Blueberry Boy Bait Cake

Good morning everyone! Welcome to National Coffee Cake Day. Did you know that Coffee Cakes contain no coffee? Of course you did! These single layer cakes are intended to be eaten while enjoying a cup of coffee.

Coffee cakes are often featured as part of a brunch menu or as a treat during a coffee break. Typically coffee cakes have a crumb topping or are “frosted” with a drizzle of sugar glaze. I can remember Mom having the ladies over for coffee and cake. It was a big part of socializing back in the day. And having at cake in the house, ready for neighbors to “drop in for coffee” was a must. I miss sitting down with the ladies to chat over a delicious, home-baked cake. Maybe having a National Coffee Cake Day will help bring back that face-to-face contact that’s been lost in our modern age.

Blueberry Boy Bait is an odd name for a coffee cake, but not when you know the back-story. So let’s go back to 1954 to one of the earliest Pillsbury Bake-Off contests. A 15-year-old girl named Renny Powell from Chicago entered her creation in the junior division. When asked about the name, she claimed that she named it after the affect that it had on the teenage boys she shared it with.  Turns out after they had one bite they were hooked. How did she do in the contest? Blueberry Boy Bait Coffee Cake took second place. Since then, Renny’s recipe has been featured in a number of cookbooks, TV cooking shows and the internet on countless cooking blogs, all with the same back-story and their own “twist” to the original recipe. This particular recipe comes from Poor Girl Eats Well, her adaptation came from Cook’s Country. Theirs seems to come from PBS America’s Test Kitchen. And so on . . . Wonder what became of Renny and her original recipe?

Blueberry Boy Bait Coffee Cake
The Bait Cake
2 cups all-purpose Flour, plus 1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon table Salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted Butter, softened
3/4 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup granulated Sugar
3 Eggs
1 cup whole Milk
1/2 cup Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen – if Frozen, DO NOT THAW before using)

The Blueberry Topping
1/2 cup Blueberries
1/4 cup granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

To Make the Cake: Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13×9-inch baking pan.

Whisk 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of the flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of the milk. Beat in half of the remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. Toss the blueberries with remaining 1-teaspoon flour.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

For the Topping: Scatter the blueberries over top of the batter. Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

Author: Rosemarie's Kitchen

I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and avid home cook.I believe in eating healthy whenever possible, while still managing to indulge in life's pleasures. View all posts by Rosemarie's Kitchen